ILO delegation visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 March 2009, 14:26 GMT]A three-member delegation of International Labour Organization (ILO) visited Jaffna last week and participated in a meeting, related to the rehabilitation of persons whom SLA claims to have surrendered themselves to it, held in Jaffna District Secretariat with Additional Government Agent, S. Sivasamy, under the auspices of the government of Sri Lanka. Local NGO representatives who were invited to participate later said that the conference was but another attempt of the government to raise funds for maintaining the SLA detention centres in which the civilians fleeing war in Vanni are being held.

The ILO delegation, consisting of three members including Mr. Pintos, was led by Dayani Panagoda, National Process Manager of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights.

The government is making a show that many persons had surrendered to SLA and that there was an urgent need to rehabilitate them so that they could return to normal life while the real situation is not so, the NGO representatives said.

The government which is fighting hard to defeat the Liberation Tigers is engaging itself in yet another false propaganda and publicity to show the world that it is genuinely interested in the welfare of the civilians held in the SLA detention centres, they added.

They referred to the SLA special rehabilitation camp in Thellippa’lai which is yet another detention centre where Tamil youths are being held, as an example.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the tripartite UN agency that brings together governments, employers and workers of its member states in common action to promote decent work throughout the world.